Louis Armstrong’s Final Public Performance Unearthed

A recording of Louis Armstrong’s final public trumpet performance has been rediscovered and released.

Louis Armstrong - 'Satchmo At The National Press Club'

CBS Newsunearthed the performance, recorded by CBS at the National Press Club in 1971, five months before the trumpeting great passed away.

It was recorded and only a few hundred copies were made and released on vinyl, but now CBS correspondent and jazz legend Wynton Marsalis has commented on the recording.

He said, “I was shocked by the energy and vigor of his playing. The material – I’d heard those songs many times with the exception of one track – but that he could play with this type of energy and intensity with that amount of time off. It was shocking. And I was also heartened by the type of love and warmth that I felt coming out of the room.”

The performance includes ‘Hello Dolly’, ‘Mack The Knife’, ‘When It’s Sleepytime Down South’ and ‘The Boy From New Orleans’.

A remastered version of Satchmo At The National Press Club: Red Beans And Rice-ly Yours has been released through The Smithsonian’s Folkways label. You can hear and buy it here.

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